'Best eight years in modern history'?

Posted: Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:15 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Clinton

From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
LEBANON, IN -- Just in case you were wondering how Bill Clinton feels about his tenure as president, he said this to a crowd here:

"Folks, it's always a mistake to bet against America. It was tough in 1968, and we came back. It was tough in 1992 and we wound up with the eight best years we've had in modern history."

As the crowd roared in agreement, he concluded, "We can bring America back."

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Comments

not with the current geffes. always mis-speaking, mis-thought, mis-remembered, mis-did, mis-(led),...

Rest Bill

sem, va (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:23 PM)

Bill is truly off his rocker....

James Tn (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:27 PM)

In the period starting at the beginning of the first (elder) Bush administration and ending at the present, they were the best 8 years.

Gregory Peek, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:27 PM)

Sure it was tough in 1968, your wife was one of those members out in the streets of the radical left that made the convention a disaster. Funny how she never has apologized for that and her work with with other Anti-American firms during that time. Of course her work with union busting Wall Mart while Bill was the Ark. Gov. The Clinton's work both sides better then anyone. As John F. Kennedy said of Richard Nixon in 1960 election, "It is hard to beat someone that is on both sides of every issue."

John, Proud Army Veteran (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:28 PM)

The assumption is that the Clintons are interchangeable cogs. Bill is Hillary and Hillary is Bill. I'd like to see a woman as president. But not this woman-- let it be a woman who EARNS it because of her political record,not her husband's. That's not progress. That's exactly the opposite of female empowerment. And is it just me or has Bill become a punchline to a really bad joke?

Ken in Atlanta, GA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:30 PM)

What a selective memory! As I have stated before,it's not just the fact that they(Clintons)lie, it's the ease in which do it. OBAMA08

leni,michigan (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:32 PM)

Yep, lets put Bill back in the White House. He needs another "Monica"

Sue in La (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:34 PM)

Oh, Gawd, Bill.
This country is so over you.

You are left to small-town speeches, where any bit of celebrity is exciting for an afternoon. Then, it's back to the movies and barnlofts for everyone tomorrow.

Nice to see Bill isn't over himself.
That's all he's got from her on out: himself.

jforjools (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:37 PM)

Bill Clinton was a competent president, who didn't really make any major advances on the fundamental problems facing this nation and didn't really change the Reagan trajectory. He's also an egotistical blowhard.

Jeremy, Iowa City, IA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:42 PM)

I don't have that same memory. What I remember is the scandals and corruption. Maybe Bill is thinking about all of those interns.

Susan (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:46 PM)

The eight best years we've had in modern history.

Thats quite a broad statement there! What in the world does it MEAN?
Here are some possible inferences we can be expected to draw from this very self serving statement:

1) "I was president during this time so I was responsible for these "best" years.

2) "I could do it again if you let me be president again"

3) "No administration or congress that came before, after or during my presidency had anything to do with these wonderfull "best" years in modern history!"

4) "The best years in modern history included my party losing a majority in congress-a sex scandel (which I ended up getting cought lieing about) and impeachment proceeding against me. Oh and I also demoralize and humiliated my party and my family causing the republicans an easy victory in 2000.

Hooray

No more Clintons!

Miss Misery (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:47 PM)

BEST tears in modern history? Am I the only one who remembers Psychologists showing up on national TV telling parents how to talk to their children about oral sex? Maybe they were the best years of Bill's life, but i recall some real difficult times,and many non productive years all because of the Clinton's behavior.

leni,michigan (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:54 PM)

Bill must have Alltimers!

RC,Idaho (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:54 PM)

Yeth, Billy Bob's tenure led to more employment than ever before...unfortunately it was the need to hire more lawyers than ever before to keep his administration afloat.

And now, now, we are to return to that thrilling which-lie-resurfaces-next yesteryear?

John M., Coupeville, Washington (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:55 PM)

"we wound up with the eight best years we've had in modern history."

-Bill Clinton on his Presidency

I beg to differ Bill. Your 8 years in the Whitehouse were a nightmare.

Assaulted women, dead bodies, numerous business, and other money scandals abounded. So much so, that when Hillary announced her candidacy for the Presidency, I felt nothing but dread, and revulsion.

No more Clintons (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:00 PM)

I would say that the first years of Bill Clinton were were good, but the second term was terrible. Bill did not finish his term nicely, he was busy fighting his in fidelity impeachment, as result he was unable to finish the work he had promised to do for the American people. The reason why Bill is fighting for this race that much, it is because he would like to go back and finish his other businesses he never completed due to the pressure of his impeachment.

$109million dollars what does that tell you American people. Billary was there for NAFTA, Colambia deals, as well as the jobs which were shipped overseas. Wake up people read the big picture, vote for Obama new and fresh who will listen to your needs. He was raised by a single mom and knows what it is to be poor.

Madea, Grayslake, IL (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:15 PM)

no that was actually in the 50's after WWII, which im sure is included in "modern" history....the 80's were pretty good too.

nick (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:19 PM)

it was all good except for the reich wing propaganda and horrible unAmerican behavior we had during that time.
I will never forget that while the GOP was constantly attacking the Clintons and the Democrats with their propaganda, Ken Starr etc that terrorists were taking flying lessons while our media focused on pizza and cigars for weeks and months.
Our media has not changed at all..it's gotten worse. The reich wing is even nastier.

ginger colorado (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:20 PM)

Amen, that was the best eight years of my life. Thanks you Bill for what you gave to this country.

Terence,Columbia,SC (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:22 PM)

Too bad the republicans don't understand that. It's beyond their scope.

William, Dallas, TX (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:23 PM)

What made Clinton's 8 years seem to him like they were the 8 best years in modern politics was not what he did as much as what the internet and dot com companies did to spur the economy. Take that period away and things would have been a lot different.

Larry Los Angeles Ca. (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:25 PM)

Bill Clinton's best memories has more to do with his predatory behavior "in his oval office" than anywhere else, ask Hillary, Gennifer, Paula and Monica, who had the dress to prove it.

Frannie (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:26 PM)

Ah the ever self serving Billy boy just can't resist propagandizing his tenure in the Oval Office. We certainly had 8 good economic years under Bill, but then Americans ran up their credit card debt from $3 trillion to around $9 trillion. He was fortunate the banks were willing to hang the US citizenry with so much excess debt. Now people sing "I owe I owe, it's off to work I go".

Let's not forget the damage he caused to the Democratic party with his nonsense with Monica. We're only now recovering from that stupid indiscretion.

Go Obama!

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:26 PM)

Amen.

Michael Burp, New Albany, IN (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:28 PM)

Is he high?

Truth2008 (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:30 PM)

Bill Clinton passed NAFTA, GATT, AND THE WTO... AND the deregulation of the banking industry which part of the reason we face the credit crisis and foreclosures. Bill was riding the internet boom and the advantages of the computer age expanding our economy... that wave was NOT of his making but many of our current, dismal economic conditions are.
It is deceptive for him to pretend that the prosperity we experienced was brought about by him... or his policies... just not so.

lb, co (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:31 PM)

Wow .... ok Bill

H, A Town (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:31 PM)

Wow,I thought Monica might have been good but I did not picture her that good,best eight years in modern history,what a woman.

John Nettles,Ridgecrest,Ca (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:32 PM)

Do you think the boom of the internet industry in the 90's had anything to do with that "modern history"?

Hard to think of any President who could have screwed that up, er, maybe one.

All Bubba had to do was sit back and let it happen, like um, his policy on Bin Laden, etc.

DDD (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:33 PM)

The best eight years? Sorry Bill, no.
But I will say this Bill, your best years are behind you.

Ames in Anaheim, CA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:33 PM)

Not the best 8 years for Monica, Jennifer or Paula Jones. it was however pretty good for the terrorist that he pardoned.

Jim Davis (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:34 PM)

...a finite individual, claiming infinity...; it may make for good merchandising, if you are a certain battery, but it doesn't work if you have to keep blowing your own horn. Bill and HRC need to heed the age-old axiom: "Don't go away mad; just go away".

Marc MN (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:36 PM)

Bring America backwards is what he means. Clinton kicked open the door with NAFTA. We need to bring manufacturing back to this country. I believe our country is in a downward spiral. We need truth, honesty, and the American way, WE NEED CHANGE!

Judy M., Bend, Oregon (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:43 PM)

Let me see. The economy was good until March 2000 - the last year of the Clinton administration - remember that!?.

I know Bill you think that Indiana 2nd congressional district is your home - you've been here for 4 days - You know what they say about friends visits and fish. After 3 days they both being to stink - you have overstayed your welcome.

I see Hillary still thinks the WTO can do something about oil prices with OPEC. Sorry, Hillary you have that wrong - try again.

OBwan, IN (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:47 PM)

If Clinton's administration was the best eight years in modern history, then that's really depressing.

I was unemployed 16 months during that time. I was a single mom with three children, two in college, one grandchild in full-time day care, an educated professional, paying higher taxes than ever, waiting for that so-called "$10,000 college tax credit" to kick in, which didn't start until after my first two were out of college,... Shall I go on?

And then we had that "good economy" technology bubble burst, and dragged our feet during the Lewinsky scandal. And then, of course, we had the "end of Welfare, as we know it" which accounts for the rise in infant mortality in the South:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/health/22infant.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

If that was "the eight best years we've had in modern history" then either I'm crazy or Bill Clinton is crazy.

GK, Edmond, OK (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:51 PM)

All I can remember is " I did not have sex with that woman"

The Other Molly, Missouri (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:52 PM)

I'm really surprised to see many of the bloggers above my posts disagree w/ President Clinton's statement.... you guys are Democrats (let's face it, you're posting on an MSNBC website, which means you have to be).... just b/c you love Obama shouldn't obscure your judgment about the 90s

Cowboy Jack (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:01 PM)

I think the House and Senate remembers loosing their elections and the majority, but you won yours Bill(typical Clinton) and they don't want to repeat that experience again Bill. Obama is the new and improved you and they believe this time the party is going to increase their seats in the House and Senate. And because the lobbyist don't own Obama, the American people won't be sold out and ripped off economically for eight more years.

Dutchboy52 (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:04 PM)

Even with Mr. "Democratic Party" campaigning for Hillary...against the back drop of the worst presidency ever in George W., Obama is showing what it really is to face an onslought of problems (some self-imposed) and still maintain his lead, message, and integrity...while the Mrs. stoops to any means possible!
I just wish Obama would push harder that the Clintons and NAFTA are one and the same!!

B, Westland, MI (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:06 PM)

Well, terrorists had those 8 years of peace and quiet (since Bill was too busy with Monica to take notice of them) to plan all kinds of attacks on us, so yeah, I guess if you look at it from THAT perspective, it was a pretty good 8 years

Birdman, PA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:06 PM)

This old-news gasbag just cannot get over himself.For him--this is not about Hillary--this is about HIM. He is an ancient history, failed President--and only the babyboomers with failed social and personal lives, who tried to live vicariously through Bubba and his scandals,still pray at his shrine.
It's almost over,and we lifelong Democrats who knew better and never voted for him, won't miss Billary--we, and the intelligent,educated citizenry deserve--and we will have, better--in fact---the best.

Michael,PHX. (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:08 PM)

PEOPLE ARE FORGETTING .WHEN BILL CLINTON WAS PRESEDENT,IT WAS THE BEST EIGHT YEARS WE EVER HAD.THE BLACKS HAVE A SHORT MEMORY THEY ONLY ARE VOTING FOR THE COLAR OF THE MANS SKIN.IT WHOULD NOT MATTER EVEN IF THE MAN WAS DUMB THEY STIL WOULD VOTE FOR HIM.
HILLARY WOULD BRING THE SAME GOOD TIMES.
I KNOW I WASTED MY TIME WRITING THIS BECAUSE MSNBC WILL NOT PRINT THIS.

JIM BOMBARTI BERLIN CT (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:09 PM)

Some of the people that write on this blog are down right nasty. Personal attacks on peoples character is not what Obama or Clinton stand for. It has no place on these blogs, keep them to yourselves. If you want to have a constructive argument about the merits of Bill Clinton's words then ok, but this name calling by Obama's supporters is not going to UNITE us and is not going to bring about REAL CHANGE.

If you look at the facts during Bill Clintons years in office there were 22.7 million jobs produced, more than any other decade on record. Average family incomes rose $7000, more than any other on record, and more people were lifted out of poverty than in any other decade. Sounds like a good resume to me.

THESE ARE FACTS, have been recorded by the us government and independent agencies.

I think all this name calling and trash talking is because Obama's supporters need something to grasp onto. They need a reason to hate Clinton, because they have no reason to support Obama. Have you noticed when people endorse Obama they say things like." Obama will unite us and move us beyond this stale mate in Washington." When people endorse Hillary Clinton, they actually say things like." Hillary Clinton has the strength, leadership and experience to lead this country forward. She has real solutions for health care, the economy, and a plan to end the war on iraq. She has a proven record as first lady and in the Senate"

I just find it funny that obama supporters can't actually name any accmpomplishments, and her supporters are constantly talking about people she has helped, and things she has done, and lives she has changed.

GO HILLARY 08m

Michael, Miami Beach, FL (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:10 PM)

....um Rwanda? I'm pretty certain that happened during these eight Utopian years...

Doug M, Monterey, CA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:10 PM)

A must read: "History Revised and Rewritten" by Bill and Hilary Clinton.

kent,Victoria, BC (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:12 PM)

It's those good med's...don't slite you guy...A gentleman of the south never reveals those things in public...

BJ,CA (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:14 PM)

since did obama hire msnbc and cnn for free full time, it is a disgrass.

john smith trenton nj (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:16 PM)

Even if it WAS the best 8 years, that was then, this is now.

We can't be living in the past. Wishing for an idealized memory of the '90's is nothing but nostalga. We need to move on.

.

PEM59, Central Jersey (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:17 PM)

Can we please give Bill & Hillary an ambassadorship to Greenland?

BC,Boise (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:19 PM)

Then tell me why the American people voted to turn the government over to Republicans after those wonderful and historical 8 years. Normally, when things are good, people tend not to want to change them.

Dawn, Justice, IL (Sent Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:20 PM)

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